state affair

My band was going to be performing at the state fair so I decided to plan a whole weekend for us there. Incentives given to the band like free tickets for us and our families and free priority parking made it seem more worthwhile. The girls hadn't ever been to the fair, I haven't been in many years, and there is a water park inside which is right up John's alley and something I thought the girls were finally good enough swimmers to try out.

We were also overdue for a visit with Susan and her girls, and since they live nearby they met us there each day. On the first day they all started out with a giant ride on the slide.


And we spent a lot of time at the animal exhibits. Both Susan's oldest daughter and Erin want to be veterinarians. There were all kinds of farm animals and many staff members from UCDavis vet school there to visit with.

Allison and Erin got some cow milking lessons.


Growing a garden in a wheel barrow.

Apart from the livestock, there were all kinds of other animals to visit also. Exotic animals and fishes and chinchillas, rabbits, birds.
Handling the turtles and watching the sturgeons swim in huge tanks.



Fair food.


It was a hot, hot day. There are plenty of things to see in air conditioned buildings or open shaded covered areas, but during the hottest part of the day the kids wanted to go on some rides out on the black asphalt where any shade is really scarce.


In between all of this fun I had to leave twice to go play a gig with the band. By the time I finished our last set and packed up my instrument it was about 8:30pm, and the kids were exhausted.

The next day we got to the park again when it opened and checked out a couple of exhibits that we missed the previous day before going to the water park, which opened an hour later than the general fair.


I reserved some lounge chairs in the shade while John and the girls started having fun on some small slides and the lazy river.





All the girls can swim pretty well but K&A were slightly too short to go on any big water slides. There was a fun wave pool they liked though. Erin was tall enough for everything so when Susan's daughters arrived they took her on some big, fast attractions with them. She's always loved roller coasters and the bigger and faster the better. Like John, she now is a fan of big waterslides too.